Magnolia pitcher Cori Cooper delivers during a Region III-4A area playoff game against Kingwood Park on Friday at Magnolia High School. To view or purchase this photo and others like it, visit HCNpics.com.

Magnolia pitcher Cori Cooper delivers during a Region III-4A area playoff game against Kingwood Park on Friday at Magnolia High School. To view or purchase this photo and others like it, visit HCNpics.com.

Photo: Staff Photo By Ana Ramirez

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Magnolia center fielder Erin Alaniz makes a catch during a Region III-4A area playoff game against Kingwood Park on Friday at Magnolia High School. To view or purchase this photo and others like it, visit HCNpics.com. less

Magnolia center fielder Erin Alaniz makes a catch during a Region III-4A area playoff game against Kingwood Park on Friday at Magnolia High School. To view or purchase this photo and others like it, visit ... more

Photo: Staff Photo By Ana Ramirez

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Magnolia’s Hailey Garza scores on a sacrifice fly by Kaitlyn Willingham in the fourth inning of a Region III-4A area playoff game against Kingwood Park on Friday at Magnolia High School. To view or purchase this photo and others like it, visit HCNpics.com. less

Magnolia’s Hailey Garza scores on a sacrifice fly by Kaitlyn Willingham in the fourth inning of a Region III-4A area playoff game against Kingwood Park on Friday at Magnolia High School. To view or purchase ... more

Photo: Staff Photo By Ana Ramirez

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Magnolia’s Ashley Poimbeouf catches the ball to put out Kingwood Park’s Nikki Sanchez at first base in the fifth inning of a Region III-4A area playoff game on Friday at Magnolia High School. To view or purchase this photo and others like it, visit HCNpics.com. less

Magnolia’s Ashley Poimbeouf catches the ball to put out Kingwood Park’s Nikki Sanchez at first base in the fifth inning of a Region III-4A area playoff game on Friday at Magnolia High School. To view or ... more

Photo: Staff Photo By Ana Ramirez

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Kingwood Park pitcher Jess Wood delivers during a Region III-4A area playoff game against Magnolia on Friday at Magnolia High School. To view or purchase this photo and others like it, visit HCNpics.com.

Kingwood Park pitcher Jess Wood delivers during a Region III-4A area playoff game against Magnolia on Friday at Magnolia High School. To view or purchase this photo and others like it, visit HCNpics.com.

Photo: Staff Photo By Ana Ramirez

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Magnolia’s Cooper punctuates sweep with HR, shutout

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MAGNOLIA — Cori Cooper homered at the plate and fired a shutout in the circle as Magnolia completed a two-game sweep of Kingwood Park with a 3-0 win in the Region III-4A area playoffs on Friday night.

The Lady Bulldogs (23-9) will face Barbers Hill in the regional quarterfinals next week. The Lady Eagles (27-0) are ranked fifth in the USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association high school top 25.

“It’s going to be a challenge,” Magnolia coach Renee Bialas said. “They’re ranked nationally. They’re a great ballteam. We’ll have to play our very best to stay with ’em. But, they’re 17-, 18-year-old girls. They’re human. You never know.

“Of course, I’m going to try to go for one game (instead of a series).”

Cooper escaped a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the top of the sixth with the Lady Bulldogs clinging to a 1-0 lead. The Lady Panthers’ Nikki Whitehead and Jess Wood had opened the frame with singles before Ashley Hughes reached on an error with one out.

But Cooper got Cali Serrano to pop out to catcher Emily Garza and then struck out Nikki Sanchez.

“That’s what you call gut-wrenching,” Bialas said. “My stomach was in knots, but if we played hard, I knew Cori was going to get us out of that — somehow, someway. “She pitched a really good game last night (10 strikeouts in a 2-1 win) and another really good game today. It’s hard to face a team twice, two nights in a row, because they start getting on to your pitches a little bit. She did a good job.”

All six of Cooper’s strikeout victims on Friday went down swinging. The right-hander got 11 other swinging strikes and threw 65 of her 87 offerings in the zone. She said her best pitch was the riseball.

Magnolia shortstop Hailey Garza went 3 for 3 and scored the game’s first run on a sacrifice fly by Kaitlyn Willingham in the fourth inning.

“Hailey’s our worker bee,” Bialas said. “She just seems to come through in the clutch. And then she sprained her ankle (celebrating her run) and came back on the field. She wouldn’t come out.”

It was Garza who singled with one out in the sixth to bring Cooper to the plate. The junior took a strike and fouled off a couple of pitches before smoking the ball over the left-center field fence.

“I was just looking for a mistake pitch on 0-2, and I got it,” she said.

Cooper also had two singles after going 2 for 3 with a double on Thursday.